Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell drew some attention on social media Wednesday after he blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for "holding up" the next stimulus relief package over her insistence that cannabis is a "proven COVID-19 therapy." Negotiations regarding the HEALS Act have been ongoing, with a number of provisions that are included and absent sparking heated debate on Capitol Hill.
Pelosi's remarks about cannabis, and McConnell's criticism of them, came in late July as she addressed provisions in stimulus packages that are unrelated to the pandemic and economic relief. While the HEALS Act includes a number of such provisions – $1.75 billion for a new FBI building, $377 million for a West Wing renovation, and $8 billion for military weaponry – her proposed HEROES Act included the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act.
That bill seeks to prohibit federal financial regulators from penalizing banks and depository institutions that provide services to legal cannabis-related businesses, with Pelosi stating she does not "agree with you that cannabis is not related to" the pandemic. She defended that stance by explaining that "this is a therapy that has proven successful," though she failed to provide proof of those claims.
McConnell's finger-pointing, the latest instance of a Congressional lawmaker placing blame on the relief package's delay on somebody else, didn't necessarily gain much fanfare from social media users, many of whom pointed out that his own proposal includes billions of dollars in funding for unrelated provisions. Others were quick to note that McConnell has been the one holding up relief, as the Democratic-backed HEROES Act was approved by the House in May, though it has been sitting on McConnell's desk ever since, dubbed a "$3 trillion left-wing wish list." Scroll down to see how social media is reacting to McConnell's remarks.